JetBrains Research unites scientists working in challenging new disciplines

Seminar on Monads and Functional Programming

28 October 2018

Today, the use of monads is a standard technique in functional programming. The invention of this technique solved the old problem: how to add computational effects to a pure functional programming language. Gratitude for this achievement is usually received by the category theory, where monads were described and examined in detail, and some see this alone as a justification for the existence of the whole theory. In this talk, we will try to understand how monads look like from the point of view of a mathematician (or, at least, a theoretical computer scientist), and trace their path from the world of abstract mathematics to the everyday practice of a programmer.